You, the followers of this newsletter, our podcasts, books, and events, know that it is our deep desire to give you tools for these challenging days. Sometimes those tools are for soul care, others for intimacy with God or for shutting down the warfare the enemy is bringing against the friends of Jesus. This letter encompasses all three.

I’ve been drawn to the breath of God lately. It’s such a beautiful and powerful gift.

Then the Lord God fashioned the human, humus from the soil, and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living creature. (Genesis 2:7, Genesis: Translation and Commentary, Robert Alter)

The breath of God, the breath of life. This is how we came to be, how life was imparted to us by our Creator: He gave us his own breath. 

The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. (Job 33:4 KJV)

When the tragic human story plummets all humanity into death, God has a plan for our re-creation. He showed his friend Ezekiel a vision about the coming re-creation of humanity, the new life that God would impart to those who come to Christ: 

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life….​​I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” (Ezekiel 37:1-4 NIV)

The breath of God creates us, and it re-creates us. We should not be surprised, then, at the scene from the book of John when the risen Christ breathed on his followers:

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:19-22 NLT)

I find it absolutely beautiful, poetic, and deeply apropos that when it comes to our re-creation in Christ, it happens through the breath of God once again. Our co-creator Jesus breathed on them once more. 

You Narnian fans will draw immediate connections to the power of the breath of the great lion Aslan, C.S. Lewis’ Christ figure, which restores, renews, and re-creates. In a scene much like Ezekiel’s valley-of-dry-bones vision, Aslan and the children come upon hundreds of precious Narnian creatures in the courtyard and castle of the White Witch, all of them turned to stone. Bereft of life, robbed of breath. Aslan breathes on them, bringing them back to life.

I found myself praying, I need this again, dear Father! I need you to breathe into me again, for I need your life afresh in me!

Breath of God, breath of life, breathe into me again.
Breath of God, breath of life, breathe into me again.
Breathe into my heart and soul, my mind and strength.
Breath of God, breath of life, breathe Hope into me.
Breathe Love into me.
Breathe Faith into me.
Breath of Life. Breath of Life.

The breath of God is also described in Scripture as a mighty spiritual weapon against the dark powers of the evil one. It happens many times in the Old Testament, where the blast of God’s breath destroys his enemies. But I’m thinking especially of 2 Thessalonians where it says that Jesus will destroy the antichrist forces with his breath and the glory of his appearing:

…whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:8 NIV)

And so when I find myself under spiritual attack, especially the assaults we’ve been describing on the faith of believers, I am also praying this:

I command the Glory of Almighty God and the power of his Breath against my enemies.

With great results, I might add. So I wanted to put this into your hands. The breath of God to restore you, especially specific parts of you that need resurrecting. And the breath of God against the forces of darkness coming against you.

Download our Wild at Heart March 2024 Newsletter here.